Giant Plumes of Oil in Gulf: How BP Will Stop the Flow

Oil spill cleanup workers adjust an oil boom at South Pass near the mouth of the Mississippi River on May 14, 2010 near Venice, Louisiana.
(John Moore/Getty)

Over the weekend, BP made major headway in containing the flow of oil still leaking from the site of the Deepwater Horizon wellhead, which ruptured back on April 20. Since that day, oil has flowed into the gulf at a rate of at least 210,000 gallons a day, and some argue that the rate may be as high as 3,000,000. (For comparison, a standard gasoline tanker truck holds 9,000 gallons: Imagine a line of 24 tanker trucks pulling up to the Gulf every day, dumping their crude oil, and driving off.)

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BP is not just protecting the Gulf natural resources…they are protecting its interest in deep sea drilling.

Dr. Samantha Joye is a professor in the department of Marine Sciences at the University of Georgia. She details what is happening with the massive plumes of underwater oil pockets that are not rising to the surface. Robert Hernan, author of “This Borrowed Earth: Lessons from the Fifteen Worst Environmental Disasters around the World," says that at this point, BP has to protect not only the environment and Gulf residents' livelihood, but also the future of American off-shore drilling.

Will someone please note that the area of a 4 inch pipe is 1/27th the size of a 21 inch pipe. That, and they are gently sucking on this straw so as note to draw in water. This is like a straw in a Big Gulp an only PR.